


metamorphoses

by randomcanbian



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Multi, Pygmalion & Galatea [The Remix], byleth is literally head empty but she's a quick study she can Do This i believe in her
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24639376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomcanbian/pseuds/randomcanbian
Summary: Edelgard's work of art comes to life. Literally.She goes to Dorothea for help.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg, Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Dorothea Arnault/My Unit | Byleth, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58





	metamorphoses

“Thea, I need your help.”

When Dorothea heard the knock at her door at 9:30 on a Saturday night, she expected a number of things—one of her ex-paramours passing by to ask her for another date, Caspar passing off his overdue portion of their visual aids, Bernie coming home early for the weekend, even a lost pizza delivery man.

She didn’t expect _this_.

Her eyes focus first on her friend Edie, platinum hair unusually dishevelled and forehead beading with sweat, then they flit to the woman behind her, at which point Dorothea feels her body betray her as her gaze rakes over the stranger from head-to-toe.  
  
She’s a woman about their age, with cerulean hair, pale blue doe-eyes, delicate features, and a body with unearthly proportions—all-in-all, she’s one of the most beautiful women she’s ever seen. Then she registers the clothes she has on, an old Adrestian High School shirt stretched tight across her ample chest, and a paint-splattered pair of shorts—both, she distinctly remembers, belonging to Edie—and it all clicks into place.

“ _Edie_ ,” she almost squeals, then tempers her voice down to a volume that only the two of them can hear, “I’m so proud of you!”

They’d known each other since high school, and even then Edelgard had been driven and intense, and ever so focused on her goals. She had mellowed somewhat throughout the years, allowing herself to relax and have fun every now and again, but even then she never had time to develop a crush as far as Dorothea knew, much less a one-night stand.

_Until now_ , it appears.

A furrow appears on Edie’s brow, but not before Dorothea ushers the two women into her apartment.

“I’m not sure how much Edie’s told you about me, but it wouldn’t hurt to introduce myself.” She puts on one of her more dazzling smiles and offers the stranger her hand. “Dorothea Arnault, currently taking Masters in Music Theory and Composition here, and one of Edie’s best friends.”

She expects the woman to take her hand, or at the very least tell her her name, but instead Dorothea’s little spiel is met with silence. The stranger’s hand is bundled in the hem of her shirt, and her face is empty as she looks between Dorothea’s proffered palm and Edie standing beside her.

At this point her friend steps in, her expression the most anxious Dorothea’s seen in a while.

“Dorothea this is...this is Byleth.”

* * *

It’s 10:05PM. They’ve helped Byleth change into cleaner, more comfortable clothes, and Dorothea’s taken out her water heater to boil some tea. She needs a cup of Sweet-Apple Blend right about now.

“Okay,” Dorothea begins, flopping her head on her beat-up couch, “I need you to say it again, because I can’t believe that this is actually happening.”

“You’re saying this woman,” she continues, waving a hand at Byleth sitting listlessly next to Edelgard, “is the commission you’ve been doing for Archbishop Rhea. That the marble statue you’ve been carving out of spite just suddenly came alive when you fell asleep in your studio. That now, on top of having nothing to show for the 2000 gold pieces the _Archbishop_ herself has given you, you have to deal with a grown woman who can’t talk and has all the knowledge of a one-day old infant. And that you’re coming to me for help.”

Edelgard groans and cups her face with her hands.

“Yes, that’s all true,” she replies, voice muffled through her fingers. “It sounds ridiculously, absolutely, incredulously crazy but it’s all true. It’s like the goddess is divinely fucking me over for daring to be an atheist.”

Dorothea glances at Byleth. She’s noticed that, despite the blankness of her face, her eyes are unerringly bright.

“What if this isn’t some miracle, Edie? Think about it. Maybe you’d seen Byleth around campus for a moment, and she was gorgeous enough to inspire you to carve Rhea’s statue in her image? And that she just happened to break into your studio naked after, I don’t know, getting drunk? And that she’s just sitting here not talking because she thinks this whole thing’s hilarious?”

“Am I right?” She points the question at Byleth. 

The woman just blinks in response.

“I mean, it’s far-fetched, but a hell of a lot more believable than a statue coming alive!”

Edelgard sighs as she turns to her. “And what about my statue, Thea? You’d need a crane or something to lift it, it’s more than 500 pounds. Not to mention that she looks _exactly_ like it—she even has a dimple on her left shoulder, the same place where I broke off a chip this morning.”

That answer amuses Dorothea despite herself. 

“You’re right, you _would_ know what she’d look like. Days spent alone with just her, carving her into what you think Beauty would look like…” she teases. “You’d know every plane and curve of her, wouldn’t you?.”

Edelgard’s cheeks burn crimson at her words, and Dorothea can’t help but laugh.

“I’m sorry Edie, I’m just teasing,” she says with a not-so-apologetic smile. “Seriously though, I knew you were talented, but Byleth’s just...incredible. I’m still having a hard time accepting all of this, but I’ll have to take things at face value until something makes me change my mind.”

Her friend eases into a less defensive posture, and Dorothea hears her breathe a thank you, possibly for both the compliment and her decision to ease off on the teasing.

“So now that I’ve somehow managed to convince you despite how absurd this all is,” Edie continues, “I was wondering if you’d help me? With Byleth, at least, while I try to do something about Rhea.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“You volunteer at the orphanage, teaching children how to read and do math and things in that vein. I was thinking about you helping me teach Byleth? She’s been picking up stuff pretty quickly—we’ve been communicating through gestures the past couple of hours—so I’m almost certain her neurodevelopmental connections are up to par with ours, all she’s lacking are our years of lived experiences. We can focus on getting her to communicate more readily with us for now...we can deal with the metaphysical impossibility behind her very existence and the job of easing her into actual society later.”

“Of course,” Dorothea replies without skipping a beat. Even disregarding the fact that it’s _Edie_ asking her for help, there’s no way that she’d leave a woman as vulnerable and innocent as Byleth alone.

Still, it isn’t as simple as adopting a house plant. 

“What about the other details though, Edie? Where’s she going to live? Can she take care of herself? Eating, grooming, those things? Who’s going to watch over her when we’re both in class? We can’t just lock her up in your dorm room.”

The water in the heater bubbles and boils, and Dorothea excuses herself to pour all three of them some tea.

The thought of taking care of another human being, much less something... _someo_ _ne_ as extraordinary as Byleth leaves anxiety brewing in her gut, even as the situation itself has yet to sink in. Still, as she watches Edie teach Byleth what the word _hot_ means, and Byleth quickly picking up how to blow on the teacup to remove some of its heat, she thinks that, hey, maybe they’ll be okay.


End file.
